


Command Me To Be Well

by OpaqueXApathy



Category: Fury (2014)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Sex, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, First Time, Loss of Virginity, Love, M/M, Male Homosexuality, References to War, Romance, Scars, Slight Character Study, World War II, homophobic time period
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 00:23:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3188831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpaqueXApathy/pseuds/OpaqueXApathy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Don never expected, wrestling with his own feelings for other men, to fall in love. That first day in Africa when he met his new tank gunner however he knew something big had changed. But besides a few fleeting, heated kisses in the rare instances when they could be well and truly alone, they'd never had a chance to act on their feelings. During a brief layover in a destroyed city however, Don and Bible finally get the chance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Command Me To Be Well

**Author's Note:**

> Artwork by the lovely and incredible Lilpeachr!

 

 

 

 

**Command Me to Be Well**

 

_My Church offers no absolutes_   
_He tells me, 'Worship in the bedroom.'_   
_The only heaven I'll be sent to_   
_Is when I'm alone with you—_

 

It was bitterly cold outside. The coldest winter Don had ever experienced yet during the war. The wind alone was like ice being driven into his lungs as sharp as knives, stealing the air from them, setting his teeth on edge and making his eyes burn. Throughout most of the coldest of days he couldn’t feel the tips of his fingers, sometimes his entire hands, at all. Numb. Even with the gloves.

The only thing that kept warm or something resembling warm was his lower half, the brutal heat of Fury now welcome compared to the hotter months when the tank’s engine heat had nearly killed them all. Instead of riding up top or out of one of the hatches, none of the crew of Fury were doing so anymore and there certainly wasn’t any complaining about the heat.

So when they got a reprieve, as brief as it was, in a shell bombed and torn up town that had once been a moderately sized, thriving city - needless to say everyone took advantage of it. The three platoons the Fury crew was riding with, including the armored divisions, scattered throughout the town to raise hell only an overly worked, relief deprived military unit could.

It was a reprieve in many other ways for Don and he was sensing for his gunner too.

Don knew he didn’t like woman. That had become clear to him easily from a young age and onward, into his teen and young adult years when embarrassing attempts with even the prettiest girls had literally done nothing for him. He’d run to the military more or less as an escape when a number of bad choices had left him feeling like he hadn’t had any.

Drinking, caring too little or too much, being too young and too reckless, had led to big mistakes and he’d wound up enlisting - feeling as if there was nothing else in the world he could do. He couldn’t marry, he couldn’t settle down like any respectful man did, and he was lucky his father hadn’t thrown him into a mental institution for his wayward thoughts and attractions. More or less probably because he’d figured, a doctor as he was, that something within Don had to be salvageable. Even if Don didn’t think so.

Or more rather because Don had never spoken out loud of his attraction to other boys, didn’t dare of course. The thoughts had been frightening for a number of reasons but he’d known to keep his mouth shut and lock those fears deeply within himself, never to be spoken of. He was sick and maybe he was sicker still for not thinking it was wrong. But he couldn’t bring himself to seek treatment or confess to his father about his struggles.

He didn’t want too.

He just wanted to live whatever life he could, there had to be something more, and maybe just maybe somewhere out there in the world it wasn’t so wrong. Maybe others felt the way he did too. And maybe they weren’t sick. Maybe they were just different. At least that’s what he told himself to keep somewhat sane.

Don had found a niche in the military he hadn’t expected. It fit him, as much as the scared, sheltered boy in him had wanted to run away at the first real contact with the enemy. The blood, the dying, the killing. It had stripped away all his assumptions about himself. Right down to the bare bones. He wasn’t the track star, the football prodigy, the young man everyone had had their eyes on to be something, the one above the rest that was a shinning example for all the others to follow. War had ripped away everything he’d known about himself and made him realize that human beings were all just the same. When it came down to it. Here they were, all killing each other in the end.

No different. No less.

And then he’d found anger.

At the Nazis and all who would side with them and other sources of that anger he couldn’t admit too, at least not out loud. They were the real enemy, they were the real threat, everything you feared in the dark, what you might imagine hell would have for inhabitants. And though Don couldn’t feel like he personally had a deeper stake against them because he too was different and they hated and punished and despised his different too - he did. Quietly and secretly. They were trying to stop the Nazis from taking over the world and he was a part of that. He was in that fight whether he could say exactly why.

Threat of blue discharges were omnipresent.

Worse would happen to military personnel in some circumstances if homosexual behavior was found among ranks. But countries away from the United States, Don had accidentally stumbled onto a system among men to participate in the acts quietly. Few dared but Don did. He knew he shouldn’t, he knew he could lose everything and more, more than he already had. At least at some point otherwise he could lie to himself and maybe find a wife who wouldn’t care if he was for intents and purposes impotent - as much as that was supremely unlikely.

At least that’s what his father had said in the way of excuses. It had kept Don up late at night in his youth to think he might actually know the truth but the lie was easy to accept from those that knew well enough because it came from an affluent doctor and respected member of society. But it had really made Don separate from everyone and everything - even as popular as he’d become in high school despite it. Because he wasn’t. He could get an erection. He could ejaculate. Just not anywhere near a woman.

He’d found this out more, far more, in the army in rare, fleeting circumstances.

But there had always been boundaries.

Don didn’t allow a man to touch him and likewise, Don barely touched another man. He’d penetrated another man but he hadn’t allowed it in kind. He’d let another man orally please him but he’d rarely do the same. And he wouldn’t kiss them. No matter how much he’d been compelled to try. How much he’d wondered how that would feel.

And then Don had met Bible. A devout man of faith enlisted from seminary school and fresh out of tank school. A man with a wedding ring on his finger, solemn eyes, and a smile that was often unexpected and as beautiful as his laughter. He had eyes that could seemingly reach into his soul, meeting his head on without hesitation, something Don had come to respect greatly. It had immediately gotten his attention. He was respectful, he was polite, efficient, and skilled with a turret gun. But he wasn’t afraid to stand up to him either, just as respectfully as the man could usually be.

And Don had fallen hard for him. When exactly he’d never guess or be able to accurately place. But for a man who’d thought love was something that didn’t exist for him and people of his ‘deviant’, ‘misguided’ kind it had especially taken him off guard. He’d never been in love before. It was probably why it had taken him and maybe Bible too, a year or more to figure it out exactly. Or approach each other physically. Though the attraction was definitely there - had been from the start. And by the year’s end it was the surest thing of all the feelings either were experiencing, constant, almost distracting. The only ones they really could name and understand. They were in tumultuous, unknown waters and it hadn’t taken them long to be pulled under.

The first kiss had come sudden, unexpectedly. One minute they’d been going over maps and plans for the next mission they’d been given, alone in the tank with the late afternoon light filtering in through the open hatches, and the next their eyes had met and they’d fell quiet. They did that a lot, had quite often lost the entire world in each other and in those looks they shared. But Don certainly hadn’t expected Bible to lean forward in the cramped confines of the tank and meet Don’s lips with his own. He hadn’t realized just how close they’d been until that very moment. Boyd hadn’t had to lean far that was for certain.

And he’d never forget the sensation, the warm press of lips against his own, Boyd’s mustache against his skin, the very presence of the man so close to him. As close and as currently intimate as Don had ever just then experienced. And while he hadn’t reacted at first, when Bible had pulled away, he’d realized he’d taken a pretty firm grip of his arm somewhere between where it started and ended. And it wasn’t so much the physical experience that had been so overwhelming but the emotional. For the first time in his entire life, despite being nearly thirty six then, he’d never been moved so deeply by a kiss. He really hadn’t been affected at all until then. So to suddenly feel so much, so passionately, through one fleeting kiss had been unspeakable. And life changing.

All he could do after was stare at his gunner in mute, dumbfounded shock. And then he’d almost done something embarrassing like cry.

Though he’d blinked away the tears, he’d stared at Boyd in nothing short of awestruck wonder for what felt like an eternity and the look, beyond fear and concern, had been reflected right back at him. Love, Don had realized. This was love.

They hadn’t had much time to explore it beyond that. Though Don immediately wanted more as much as it terrified the hell out of him in a lot of ways. As much as Boyd had a tendency to scare the hell out of him in a lot of ways. How he just seemed to get him, know him, look into his soul and pull out something Don would have never spoken out loud. It scared him how much he cared for the other man and how little of a place there was for them in the world. But it was reassuring that, as deeply religious as Bible was, he experiencing much of the same. Perhaps worse. If the ring on his finger was any indication.

Don had questioned him one night about it and the answer had been frank but emotionally jarring. His wife had died of illness, Boyd had been in the middle of seminary school, and she’d died shortly after he’d returned. She’d died, they’d been childless, and he hadn’t felt there was any option left for him. No direction or compass. And while deciding to put his faith in God he’d passed an enlistment station.

_“Easy as that?” Don had asked._

_“Easy as that.” Bible had said, smiling softly, eyes unfocused as he stared out across a war torn countryside as foreign as any place they’d ever seen._

That had been Africa.

And now they were in Italy. Fleeting, stolen kisses between them that had been nothing short of soul shattering but little else. Little else they could have afford or risked. Hiding their feelings in plain site, taking solace and strength in each other, and letting the tension build in other ways. Tension for physical intimacy. Raw, sexual, and intensely driven.

Now, in the present, Don let his feet hit the ground as he jumped down from Fury. Bible was already there but he was leaving for somewhere at a jog. Where Don couldn’t guess or fathom. Grady and Gordo had already left with Red, probably to terrorize the town a bit like a lot of the other soldiers were. It was harmless in the face of their current adversaries and the pain and terror they could evoke. Real suffering. Real fear.

“Where are you going?” Don called after Bible.

“Just wait a moment! I’ll be right back.”

Don didn’t wait. He watched him for a moment, and then decided to follow.

He didn’t have to follow his gunner far. Through the war torn streets, pistol comfortably situated in it’s holster at his side and another rifle slung over his shoulder, Don considered going back for his duffel bag. Bible had headed to what looked to be either a former embassy or a five star hotel. At least it probably was at one time. Half the building looked beyond repair, blackened and ridden with shell holes, a corner of the second floor exposed entirely. But the rest of the building looked solid.

“I saw this building as we came in.” Bible said as Don joined him at his side, the tank gunner turning on his heels and heading for what looked to be what had probably been a cafe at one point.

“I didn’t figure you for the exploring type.” Don said, following after him.

“I’m not.” Boyd murmured back in response. “Not really. But there was a private, talking about how quickly everyone leaves places like this. And I wanted to check...” he disappeared behind the barista’s bar, Don running his hands over the wood a bit wistfully, his gloves leaving a path in the dust from what had fallen from the ceiling. He did like well made coffee. Quite a lot actually. And while he had some favorites, there wasn’t a coffee he really wouldn’t say no too.

“Here we go.” Bible said, and Don watched, curious - taking a seat at the bar as his gunner coaxed some life into an espresso machine. “Believe it or not this thing still works. Barely.” he smiled, sending that smile over his shoulder at Don. It was a rare and beautiful sight to behold.

“I have no idea what I’m doing.” Bible laughed.

A rumble came through the floor, artillery fire could be heard from the distance and neither man flinched, the lights flickering above their heads from a chandelier that looked like it had seen better days.

Don pointed to a lever beside the machine. “You pull that. I know that much.”

“All right well that didn’t do anything.”

Don stood, pushing himself to his feet and the automatic rifle back behind his shoulder. Whether or not he knew it, he was smiling. And Bible had a way of doing that. Of capturing his full attention like nothing else could. Either with those intense eyes of his, the very nature of the man, or a sudden rare smile.

Coming to stand beside him near the back of the bar, shoulders touching, Don reached out and pulled one of the levers down. And while the machine struggled valiantly to start, it didn’t do much. So he depressed a button, held it, and tried again. This time, surprisingly, something happened and Bible quickly got a cracked cup as dark brown, steaming hot liquid started to pour out of it. “Look at that!” he laughed.

Don hit the side of the machine when it threatened to give out, saving the momentum of it for the time being. What was coming out of it looked a bit questionable but it was hot and it smelled decent. It was close enough that neither man cared and Bible grabbed a somewhat chilled bottle of milk from under the bar in an ice chest. Just in time for espresso machine to decide to die entirely. “There it goes.” Bible said. “I don’t think there’s any saving it.”

“No.” Don agreed, waving some smoke away from his face with a gloved hand. “Definitely not.”

“Well we got this. Whatever it is.” Bible said, passing the milk over to him.

Don lifted the cup after pouring a liberal amount into it, turning the dark brown lighter and creamier in color, almost a caramel. “That’s a french blend.” he said, surprised, taking a tentative sip. “And that’s...” Don passed over the cup to his lover. “That right there Bible is probably the best thing you’ll taste until this war is over.”

“Oh yeah that’s -” he smiled, lowering the cup. “That’s surprisingly good.”

“Better than good.” Don corrected.

“Better than good.” Bible agreed, laughing a bit and just like that, suddenly - their eyes connected.

And oh those laugh lines around his eyes were something to behold Don decided. Those smiles of his transformed his face, softened the natural intensity of his eyes. Those smiles were as beautiful as the man himself. And he could willingly drown in both.

And just like that they weren’t really smiling anymore, eyes locked onto each other in a way that made Don naturally breathless. And he didn’t fight the feeling. They were alone now, they didn’t have the army surrounding them, and they could look as long and as hard as they wanted. Even though they did that in varying degrees whether they were surrounded by the whole military or not. Nothing had ever stopped them before but this... this was completely just for them and them alone now. And it was an experience Don wasn’t liable to forget for awhile.

Bible passed over the espresso cup to him and Don took it, the warmth through his gloves welcome. Their eyes held even as he took a slight sip, he didn’t look away for a second, not as the taste of the coffee strongly hit his tongue, settling hotly on his tongue. And it the sensation was even more welcome in his stomach. The fact that Bible seemed to enjoy watching him enjoying the espresso was enough to settle hotly somewhere else too and for a moment he just took his time, watching Bible watch him, enjoying the taste, and letting his mind wander.

Setting the small espresso cup aside, he nodded over his shoulder. “Would you like to check out the second floor with me?”

Bible nodded. “Let’s go.”

They were more tentative as they explored the massive hotel. No one was apparently around this side of town yet though they could hear a lot of commotion, of the good kind, from farther off. The survivors of the town were starting to celebrate but this embassy or hotel wasn’t even near a residential area or the most active parts of it. So they felt relatively isolated. Even still they couldn’t be too relaxed as they pushed open doors, Don’s fingers lightly brushing against doors while his other hand kept a light touch on his automatic. Bible followed behind, occasionally taking the other side of the hall, but after awhile the silence of the place seemed to confirm they were alone.

So when Don pushed open a particularly large, white door he just stepped through. Into what was apparently a very suite. There was some damage here. There was damage everywhere but this room had apparently been empty. There was a giant tear in one of the settees, a cream and blue chaise that was marred by the slash of a knife. There were papers of some description scattered everywhere. Bullet holes littered the walls but otherwise the place was relatively intact. Almost untouched besides the obvious damage.

Don felt a hand against his back and drew in a somewhat unsteady breath, turning his head to the side, enough to see some of Bible out of his periphery. He was standing close to him, but the only physical contact made was from his hand. But it was almost jarring in only good ways and far too many to count. And he was suddenly hyper aware of the man’s presence. Whether it was nerves or anxiety he couldn’t place it. But it didn’t feel bad. And there was a question in that touch. A touch that Don answered by reluctantly stepping away.

His eyes met Bible’s as he shut the door and locked it and he could barely handle the intensity in his gaze, lips parted and eyes questioning, open, and a bit vulnerable. They both were. This love was new to both of them. In so many staggering ways.

For good measure, Don grabbed a chair and braced it up against the door handle, giving it a rattle to make sure it wasn’t going anywhere. It was solid. Someone would have to repeatedly kick it down in order to get inside and the keyhole was effectively blocked. They couldn’t take too many chances. Not here, not like this, not in this time. And Don wondered if the world would ever change. Would they live to see it?

Don returned to Boyd, the man seemingly riveted where he stood. And that was all right. The tank commander didn’t mind quietly closing the distance between them, pressing slightly close and tilting his head down, meeting the man’s eyes questioningly. Almost for permission, looking for it there in those deep brown eyes. The man’s lips were still parted and he just couldn’t ignore the call of that, Bible moving fluidly all at once, reaching up and slowly putting a hand on the back of Don’s neck as he stepped forward and closed the last of the distance between them, tilting his head up and pressing his lips to Don’s.

Don couldn’t call himself exactly a religious man. Not exactly. But this... this right here, the warmth of a hand against his stomach, the equally warm hand gently gripping his neck, and the lips against his own. That was heaven. That was a heaven he could believe in. He could die for. It was conviction, pure and simple.

He opened his mouth up to Boyd without question, instinctively, reaching up to grip the man’s arms in hands still gloved. And he moved them, as he tilted his head to the other side and they watched each other through hooded eyes, and took Bible’s face in his hands - stepping further into his hands and pressing their lips more intensely together. And they just... melted into one another. Both of their eyes closed, their lips moved together with tender abandon, and they dived willingly into the depths. The kiss deepened also and Don let out a shuddering breath and for a moment they shared the same one before coming together again. And it was beautiful, unhurried, deep and soul claiming.

Occasionally Don would find Bible’s eyes with his own, the man now had a hand buried in his jacket against his back, and their bodies were flush against each other. More contact than they’d ever had before. And then they just stopped and watched each other, gazing into each others eyes for a long moment. Or maybe it wasn’t that long at all. Time really had ceased to matter right now, right here, between them.

And then the man’s hands released him, seemingly having a bit of difficulty forming words when he said. “Turn around.” Bible murmured.

Don felt a flicker of something that was definitely anxiety, but after a brief moment, just a heartbeat, he did. If they were to become physically intimate, in all ways - and they both wanted that clearly - he knew Bible was going to see his scars. Scars of a past mistake he certainly wasn’t proud of. The car accident that had driven him definitively into the arms of the military in the first place. His wake up call so to speak, his own personal call to arms. If Bible turned away from him, he did. Don wouldn’t question him in the slightest. But he knew it would be wrong not to trust in him first, to try, to give him the choice to turn away or not, to place a faith in something that felt stronger than anything Don had ever experienced.

Bible’s hands reached for his gun holster and Don, from the front, released the latches so he could take it away. He set his automatic aside as well, onto a dusty table, the sound as it made contact with the wood a little louder than he’d expected into the silence of the room where only their individual breaths could be heard. And then came the jacket, Don unzipping that and letting Bible take it away too. He knew the tank gunner was setting everything over a chair but he could hardly think past his own rapidly forming anxiety. It was turning into something far more heavy though and he couldn’t stop himself. Dread.

All that was left was just a few layers and through the tightness in his chest and throat, Don made the decision before Bible unknowingly could and reached down to help the man pull the heavier shirt and the one beneath over his head.

His dog tags rattled, cold against his now bare skin as held his shirt and sweater in his hands, exposed now completely to the man behind him. Perhaps it was better this way. It happening just like this. Maybe it was better than it happening during love making, touching them unknowingly in the midst of passion. Because he knew the ugly expansive scars could certainly be enough to kill a certain mood in particular.

The room had gone still and silent. Bible wasn’t moving anymore from behind him, not even apparently breathing, but Don didn’t dare turn to face him. He didn’t think he could.

And then, in a touch entirely foreign and breathtakingly new, he felt tentative finger tips touch his back, just between his shoulders over his spine. Don couldn’t help it, he sucked in a shocked breath involuntarily, straightening and muscles jumping slightly under the contact. Not exactly away. More or less just a twitch. But the hand didn’t leave, it just more firmly touched, a palm sliding ever so carefully over a badly scarred shoulder. And Don’s vision was blurring with tears, a few falling over onto his face and to the wooden floor beneath their feet. But how else could he possibly react to such heartbreaking and overwhelming acceptance? He was bewildered, struggling to feel deserving.

Another hand joined the first and while the touches were tender and careful they didn’t appear hesitant. A gentle, shocked exploration of ruined flesh that left Don trembling beneath Bible’s hands.

“How?” the man in question managed a heartbeat later, voice hushed in the heavy silence of the room.

Blinking back tears, clearing his vision some, Don drew in a quiet breath. “In no way that was honorable. Not like you might think.” he tipped his head down, gaze finding the floor. “I wrecked my father’s car when I was seventeen. I was drunk. So drunk I don’t even remember getting into the car.”

The hands didn’t leave, they didn’t recoil, and Don suddenly felt a warm breath against his skin. And then lips followed, tentative and tender. Soft but decisive. Love and acceptance communicated through wordless, pure, physical contact.

“Why?” Bible murmured against his scarred skin, breath warm, ghosting over sensitive flesh. His hands were stroking along his skin with all the care and reverence he’d give to his ‘good book’. It made Don feel like he was something to hang onto in this war, something to hold dear, close. Something to remind him of hope. Bible certainly reminded him of salvation. Every single minute, every single second he looked into his eyes.

Don averted his gaze to the floor, struggling not to walk away, turn around. “I never liked women. Not sexually. My father he... I think he suspected. But, being a respected man as he was - a doctor - everyone believed him when he said I was impotent.” he let out a short breath and turned his eyes out the nearest window. In the far distance, a city was burning or smoldering from a previous attack he wasn’t sure which. “Everything caught up to me I guess around that age. When all the boys were out dancing with girls. I stopped caring. I started to believe I was born sick and it was my penance to suffer.”

“I never believed that.” Boyd murmured. “I don’t feel sick. God hasn’t punished me for my feelings. I haven’t done anything but what He commands. I’ve done nothing but live by His words, His love. We’re born into His image. Everything else is up to us, how we decide to live. And you’ve... Don I can’t claim to know you. I haven’t lived your life with you. But...”

Don turned, drawing in a breath to steady himself, and the open gaze waiting for him was something he wasn’t exactly sure he was prepared for. But he’d been expecting that too. His own emotions felt raw right now, open. But in no way he could consider bad. And in Boyd’s eyes, the same raw intensity was reflected back at him. But openly. He felt all of it. Don couldn’t even imagine what that must be like. The depth of his own emotions had a tendency to rattle him so he pushed them down, anything not to face them ahead on.

“Don you’re a good man. A great man. I know that. Anyone you ask will tell you the same. You’ve got men out there willing to die for you. That doesn’t happen lightly.”

For a mute moment, equally overcome with emotions, Don just stared at the man in awestruck wonder. Maybe the question wasn’t at all if he was sick, but how on this earth he had managed to find a soul so loving, so beautiful. He didn’t feel remotely worthy. But he wanted to be.

And desperate to express some of that, just a fraction maybe, all that he could at the least - Don reached up and took the man’s face in his hands, pausing just a moment, gaze flickering to the man’s eyes to his lips. His gunner just shared the glance, gazing up into his eyes, entirely open to him, relaxed under his touch. He looked shaken but Don was learning to read of what type, whether it was good or bad. This, while Boyd looked a bit frightened, he sensed it wasn’t at him. And Don could relate. The storm of love and his own feelings right now was a tumultuous, at times frightening thing. They were on the precipice of a love Don couldn’t even fathom and the depth rattled him too.

Leaning down, Don pressed his lips to Bible’s and simply, utterly and completely he was drowned in the sea of those emotions. Willingly he was consumed, drowning in the taste of the man, the feel of his lips against his own. The distance wordlessly closed between them and who moved Don couldn’t guess but suddenly they were pressed without an inch to spare between them. He felt a hand slip to the back of his neck and the man’s mouth opened under his and suddenly, heatedly, tongues touched.

Don groaned and Boyd took in a trembling breath and for a second, just for a second they shared the same breath. And suddenly Don couldn’t have him enough, couldn’t have him soon enough. The only thing that tempered him was that this was Bible and he was filled with the urge to take him slowly, lovingly, with all the adoration for the man he felt in his heart. Which felt infinite.

Boyd was already on the same page it seemed, divesting himself of his gloves, jacket, and two layers of shirts without for a second breaking eye contact with his commander. Don himself just watched, drinking in the sight of everything revealed to him as it was, committing all this to memory the best he was possibly able.

Bible was lean, the last shirt revealing toned, well muscled arms, muscle stretched a bit thin over his shorter frame. But Don, while he watched with eyes he wouldn’t deny were hungry, approving, and desiring - he was also satisfied that Bible wasn’t starved to death like much of them could be. Evidence of Don’s watchful command. His chest was bare, a dusting of fine darker hair but that was all and suddenly he felt compelled to touch, to feel his skin beneath his palms. So he did just that, before he could talk himself out of it.

A calm was descending between them. Instead of every layer of clothes between them that dropped to the floor causing an increasing amount of anxiety, it seemed to be doing the exact opposite.

Don’s fingers made contact first and then the weight of his palm, over his chest, feeling the warmth of his skin, the hair on his chest, and then up to a muscled shoulder and a firm neck. He paused, his thumb resting over just the pulse of his heart, feeling it in Boyd’s neck, and he tore his gaze away to meet his gunner’s. That heartbeat was his responsibility. It was his very job to keep it going, to keep it from stopping while Bible was under his command. And loving him so strongly, like this, it was nearly enough to break him.

A little overcome, he blinked, clearing his vision of what might have suspiciously been tears - begging Bible to understand with his eyes alone what he couldn’t say out loud. I love you.

But he seemed too though and Don saw it reflected right back, suddenly, as - moved - Bible reached up and slipped a hand around to the back of Don’s neck in a gesture that was becoming familiar. He pulled him down to meet his lips and Don went willingly, their mouths opening to each other’s in a searing, slow kiss. A kiss that told them they had all the time in the world when they really had anything but.

The bed, thankfully, wasn’t that far away and they reached it with a few breathless steps, mouths barely stopping to touch, to communicate their passion to each other through heated and fevered kisses that were still deep, time consuming promises of love, of the emotional and the physical. And now it was Don’s turn to reach up for the back of Boyd’s neck, holding it in an almost reverent grip as the man laid back beneath him onto the bed and Don went with, gazing deeply into his eyes as breathlessly they shared a few kisses between them.

They adjusted on the bed, Boyd on his back beneath him, tentative lovers without fear, going off of each other on what to do next and where. Because more than anything this was new, these waters weren’t tread, and they had no prior experience, nothing to tell them what was best or right. Only them and only the mute instincts of their bodies, silent but omnipresent.

Don watched him, for just a moment, resting on his hands above him - just watching. He didn’t think he’d ever get enough. Bible was beautiful. He was the most beautiful man, the most beautiful soul he’d ever encountered. And he was completely, and absolutely love struck.

The sounds of his belt being unbuckled was surprising slightly but he hardly reacted, quite the opposite. He could hardly take his eyes away from Bible’s and the warm hand that eased into his uniform pants and over his skin was enough to take the breath away from his lungs. And that got him moving again. Leaning down to nuzzle his face against Bible’s neck, he placed soft, breathy kisses on his skin - slowly moving down his body, pressing heated kisses to chest, lower just over ribs, flickering his gaze up to catch the one above him as his lips ghosted over a stomach.

Boyd was so incredibly responsive under his hands and lips. He was practically breathless, giving soft gasps here and there, hardly able to stay still it seemed. Don reveled in it, in giving that pleasure, catching every reaction and drinking it in. There was something he’d always yearned to do, purely out of lust, with other men but it had never felt right. It wasn’t so much that it was wrong, but the person might have been. But here and now, as he reached for Bible’s belt, the hardness in his uniform trousers already leaving an impressionable outline against the front of his pants - nothing could feel more right. And that yearning to have that hard length in his mouth had suddenly never been more powerful. Because it was Bible’s. The man who owned him body and soul. Whom he’d do anything for in this life or hopefully the next. One just certainly wasn’t enough.

Resting on his stomach between his legs, Don deftly unbuckled his gunner’s belt with sure hands, holding Bible’s gaze steadily with his own. He was feeling much more confident about this for some reason. There was a fluttering of nervousness his stomach, that had never really subsided, but it was a good feeling.

He broke away only briefly to rid Bible of his boots, dropping them off the bed. Each sock he took off, he took the time - not exactly able to shelve the commander in him even here - to inspect Bible’s feet briefly with a glance and firm hands. They didn’t do much walking, not like the infantry, but it was his responsibility.

Bible gave him a breathless, bemused smile and Don returned it before making steady work of the gunner’s pants with his hands.

He couldn’t exactly help the slight, breathless groan he gave as Bible was slowly stripped completely bare in front of him and his hardness came free from the confines of his underwear - which Don took with the pants. The fluttering in his gut tripled but, again, it was only in extremely pleasant ways. For a moment all he could do was just stare at Bible, taking him all in with a hungry, roving gaze. Narrow hips gave way to muscular thighs, like the muscles of his arms, just slightly more developed from working the turret gun than the rest of him. His erection was already leaking just slightly at the tip and Don couldn’t help but immediately think of a cascading amount of images when he saw it, desires, wants. He wanted to worship it with his mouth, feel it in his hands, and take it deep inside of him. Everything. Over and over again for the rest of their lives, however long that might be, if Bible let him.

Don put his hands on the bed to either side of the bed by the man’s hips, leaning down and nuzzling against a hip, so near to what he really wanted that it drew soft sounds of pleasure, wordless groans, from them both. Don felt fingers touch his and glanced up, catching Bible’s gaze before moving to his erection, dog tags rattling as he shifted and took the man’s length into a hand. Boyd’s hips shifted, just slightly up into his hand involuntarily and he groaned raggedly, hand gripping Don’s free one beside his hip. “Don.” he gasped.

Suddenly Don couldn’t breathe, catching Bible’s eyes with his own. As if there had been going back before, and there hadn’t, this really did feel like the threshold between everything. The fine line was crossed now and for Don, there was only going further over it, going back certainly wasn’t an option. And Bible’s eyes reflected the exact same.

Don leaned down without another word and took the head of Bible’s dick into his mouth.

“Oh, Don-!” Bible gasped loudly, his in-drawn breath sounding considerably shaken.

That was all right. Don was too, letting Bible hold onto him as hard as he’d like because in a way he needed the grounding as well. It was everything he’d imagined, when he’d dared to do so, and impossibly more. But that was Bible. Everything was impossibly more. To drive Don to the point of wordless distraction. He could barely describe how good the man’s hardness felt in his mouth. The salty taste of his heated skin, the bitterness of pre-come on his tongue, the way his mouth was stretched around his length. Sucking on it felt even better and the loud, keening moan he got in response from the man beneath him was heaven. Bible’s dick was heaven and he didn’t care how ridiculous the thought was.

What he lacked in length, maybe four inches total, Bible was that in girth as well. Short and thick, it was a struggle to accommodate his girth in his mouth but it was perfect. Don loved the feeling, he loved his mouth being completely full and stretched around the man’s hardened, heated desire. He couldn’t take anymore than half but he didn’t push it, sucking firmly in slow up and down motions as he essentially fucked Bible’s dick with his mouth. The rest he held in a fist, giving experimental strokes and Bible was steadily coming apart beneath him with groans and moans that were steadily rising in volume, wordless and breathy.

Boyd’s hands alternated between gripping Don or gripping the bed sheets beneath him, hips straining to stay still although Don wondered what it would be like if he didn’t and the gunner took his mouth like he wanted him to take his ass. If he could even get the reserved, always polite, Southern gentlemen of his gunner to even consider it. Even if he didn’t, that was fine. Because this was blissful.

And Bible was vocal, Don having to withdraw reluctantly to gently shush him, catch his eyes with his own. He didn’t want him to be quiet, absolutely the opposite in fact. But just because someone might not find them here, if they heard them than they were just as caught if they’d been seen. But Don was determined, someday, to get him where Bible could make all the noises he wanted as liberally as he felt them. And the man beneath him seemed to understand, gathering himself up a bit tighter - a lot tighter - and nodded quietly. Don, giving experimental strokes with his fist, leaned down and took the time to explore Bible’s erection a bit more thoroughly.

He mapped it out with his tongue, every square inch of it, and when there was no more to be had of it he sucked curiously on Boyd’s balls, drawn up tight and preparing for the release. The man was close, Don knew it, and he met the man’s eyes with his own, making a quick decision and deciding that whatever came next - he wanted Bible’s release in his mouth.

Fisting the man’s length in his hand, Don took him back into his mouth, letting out a breath of pleasure that was almost inaudible around the hard heat.

“Don-” Bible gasped, gripping one of his arms tightly, the other his hand still - the one resting by his hip. Don was holding it back just as tightly and the tank commander just threw himself further into the task.

Tears formed momentarily in Bible’s eyes, hips straining against his own hold over them, and his breaths were ragged, a bit desperate. Don took him as deep as he could and sucked firmly, drawing his lips slowly back up, pressing his tongue to the underside of Bible’s dick before he went back down again. And Boyd’s grip on him became suddenly desperate. “Don I’m - I’m going to-”

Don just looked up, met his eyes with his own, and groaned out his want for just such a thing, stroking Bible’s length in hand, his mouth firmly encased around his lover’s erection and firmly sucking. He eased him in deep, farther than he had managed before and -

Bible couldn’t hold back a brief shout, jerking slightly under his hands as his climax overtook him, Don groaning loudly himself in response, Bible’s cries music to his ears. He put his hands quickly on Bible’s trembling thighs, the man’s seed hot and bitter on his tongue. Perfect. Reflexively he swallowed, he didn’t even give it thought, and Bible cried out sharply, chest and sides heaving with heavy gasps and cries that he was struggling in vain to bite down on.

Don swallowed every drop, drank him down, savoring the taste. It was a bit much but he absolutely couldn’t get enough and he only released him when slicked and hot, oversensitive skin couldn’t handle any more. And while his jaw was already starting to ache, it was a good kind and he already missed Bible in his mouth, missed the feeling. They would have to do that more. He understood the risks but an experience like that, made it seem worth it. If his own throbbing erection could attest to that, heavy and leaking between his legs, still trapped in the confines of his pants.

Bible looking nothing short of overcome and Don wasn’t so sure he should initiate a kiss, if that would be welcome, so he pressed a kiss to his inner thigh - shivering at the moan this elicited from his lover, stroking a hand over his stomach, feeling the taut muscles tremble under his touch. While he was addicted purely to this, above everything Bible was beautiful when he came apart. Don felt blessed just to witness it and he couldn’t wait to see it again, be the cause. Already he was both looking forward to the next time, assuring himself that there would be a next time.

“C’mere.” Bible murmured, his accent thick, slurring the words together with emotion.

Don hesitated and met Bible’s eyes with his own. He wasn’t so sure he could even walk like this. And he wanted the man, desperately. Enough that nothing short of everything was going to be enough. And Bible seemed to read his gaze, just like he always did, licking lips that suddenly looked dry. “Do we...?”

“Inner jacket packet.” Don said immediately and Boyd didn’t hesitate, the tank commander pushing himself up to his knees.

But when Don reached for his pants, hands brushed his own aside and he looked up, Bible meeting his eyes heatedly as he helped free him of his pants and boots. “What do you want?” he asked a bit roughly and then backed up that question with a heated kiss to his lips. It surprised Don but he groaned softly, meeting him back with intense abandon, reaching up to put a hand to the back of his gunner’s neck. “Tell me.” Boyd murmured against his lips when the kiss ended.

“You.” Don said immediately, roughly. “Inside you.”

Boyd gave him a breathless, shocked look but it wasn’t affronted, or offended. He didn’t seem disturbed and that eased some of his nerves. It brought him back to reality, what they were doing, the nature of it, how the whole world accused it of being downright evil. But Don couldn’t associate it with any of that, he just couldn’t. Not when it felt as right as it did.

Bible leaned up and met his lips with his own again and that seemed to be, passionately, as good of a yes as there could be. The man took his face in his hands and kissed him lovingly, thoroughly, Don covering Bible’s hands with his own, practically lightheaded from the overload of emotions and sensations. He needed him. And he wouldn’t walk out of this room with anything less. Because it was a wonder they had this. And in the middle of a war so vast, so violent and ugly, it could be taken away in a heartbeat. This may be it. There may be more. And there was no way to know when or if they’d even have this time together again.

“Jacket.” Don murmured against his lips.

“Right.” Bible managed and he sounded as emotionally unhinged and distracted as Don felt. But sure. He sounded sure. And that was as reassuring as anything.

Bible gave him a curious glance when he took out the small glass vial of lubrication, mostly it was gun oil and peppermint oil, something Don had made himself. It hadn’t been used in awhile and he was only hoping it hadn’t evaporated. Under Bible’s mostly knowing look, Don shifted his eyes downward, for some reason feeling badly that he had prior experience with men. Especially after becoming intimate with Bible.

“It’s okay.” Bible assured him with a low breath, coming back to where he was sitting on the bed. “Can’t say I’m okay with anyone else touching you but-”

The possessiveness in that statement gave Don an unexpected shiver and took him by the hand and drew him close, into a brief, but thorough kiss. “No one touched me. I never allowed it.” he nodded towards the bed behind him. “I’ve never taken a man to bed. And I’ve never done what I did to you to another man.”

Seeming much more assured, Bible gave a relieved nod. “Good.” he said, meeting his lips once more. “Lay back.”

That surprised Don too but wasn’t Bible just full of them. In the best ways there could be that was for certain. Either continuously impressing him or surprising him in nothing short of incredible ways, the man did nothing but keep him on his toes that was for certain.

“Have you ever...” Don started to ask, even positioned himself up against the headboard, sitting up, hands on the bed beside him - the sheet were warm still from Bible’s body heat. Even though it seemed fairly obvious to him that no, Boyd hadn’t, and the man confirmed it with a shake of his head and a soft ‘no’.

Moved, Don took Bible into his arms with a soft, low breath, the man straddling his legs and hips - drawing him down for a searing kiss. Boyd was half hard and interested again and Don was suddenly overcome with some way to express just how much it meant to him that Bible was doing this. With him. Going this far, despite having no prior experience. He often wondered how but he wasn’t going to do that now, going with the love in his heart and the feeling deep in his gut that they had something few ever experienced.

Wrapping an arm around his lower back, Don kissed him deeply for a short moment, taking the bottle from his hands. He was going to do this right, by Bible if nothing else. Of that he was sure. And never with anyone else for as many days as he had left.

Pouring some of the bottle’s contents onto his fingers, he didn’t spare much, warming it before reaching down between Bible’s legs. They’re gazes held and that was good. There was no way Don wanted to miss a moment of what was about to come. And he wanted to make sure that Bible was all right, that he’d continue to be. For any reason whatsoever that he might need to stop, he wanted to feel it and see it first before he had to hear it.

“You all right?” he murmured against his lips as his fingers slipped between the cracks of his gunner’s firm, taut behind, just to be sure, watching his face closely. He touched him there, rubbing a slicked finger over his entrance and losing his breath entirely at Bible’s reaction, a wordless gasp, mouth parting in what could only be called pleasure. And that was good.

“I’m okay.” Bible nodded, “I’m all right.”

Don let out a soft breath, what air he had in his lungs because it wasn’t much. Bible felt incredible to the touch and he knew he couldn’t make this painless, but he did whatever he could to ease the way, easing a finger inside slowly. But he didn’t stop, just pushed steadily carefully inward past the tight ring of muscle and further into the even tighter heat of the man’s body. The slick on his fingers eased things considerable, a little went a long way, and within the space of a few breathless moments he had a single finger buried inside. Bible let out a soft groan and Don shared it, letting his head drop to his gunner’s shoulder and chest a moment. It almost too much to process, too good to be real. He could only imagine what it would be like, what kind of heaven it would be to be buried deep inside him.

Don forced himself to draw back, Bible leaning forward to press a kiss to his lips with a husky groan of want, need. “I’m okay.”

Trusting him to be right, Don slowly added another finger, clenching his jaw around the feeling. It was practically too much. Bible was so impossibly tight but he managed it, second finger joining the first and Bible’s groans were steadily becoming louder. Don didn’t ask this time, didn’t stop, and Bible didn’t prompt him to keep going. It was a wordless assumption mutually shared by both men. And the way his gunner was clinging to him made him all the more intent to be inside him as quickly as he possibly could.

The third finger wasn’t so easy, taking a bit more time and patience, but once it was inside with the others Don began stretching him, preparing him, the slick remaining as slick as it had been before. It lasted a long time and went a long way, there was no concern of that. He knew it had to hurt some but Bible’s reactions were largely of pleasure. Intense pleasure at that. And he was erect now, hard against his belly. That was unspeakably attractive to Don. He couldn’t draw any pleasure from something sexual unless his partner was too. The more for them, the more for him.

“Don-” Bible gasped. “I can’t-” he seemed to lose the ability for words. “I need you.” he finally settled on. And that was more than enough for Don, who breathed out a breathless groan of approval and carefully, with an easy amount of care and slowness, withdrew his fingers from the depth of Bible’s incredibly tight ass.

“Stay where you are.” Boyd said, resting his hands on his shoulders. “Just where you are.”

Don reached between his legs and took a hold of his erection, breathlessly groaning at the contact. He was nearly painfully aroused and a few strokes from his slicked fingers was enough to do him in entirely very nearly. He needed Bible more than anything and no words could possibly put that into something coherent. Bible reached around and his hand replaced one of Don’s, Don reaching out and grasping onto a lean hip at the sharp amount of pleasure that evoked. “Bible-” he managed to gasp.

Boyd groaned in response and he seemed just as at a loss for words as Don was, if not more so. Don could only imagine.

Don felt the head of his cock settle against Boyd’s tight entrance, a pressure and then he slipped inside - Don groaning loudly and forcing himself to bite down on the noise. He grabbed onto Bible and Bible grabbed onto him, their cries of pleasure intermixed for a moment. And the man seemed to take his previous initiative, sitting back on his dick and taking it carefully but steadily inside of him with resolute determination. Don wasn’t sure how long he was going to last at this rate, he was already drowning, he already felt close.

And it didn’t take long, not nearly. As soon as was buried to the hilt his lover’s incredibly tight ass, more than a few strokes and he knew he’d fall over the edge. So he held his hips there for a moment, still with his hands, meeting Bible’s eyes with his own. Reaching up, he pulled him down for a kiss that entirely stole the breath from his lungs. He could barely hang on as it was, holding Bible’s hips tightly in his own. “I’m not going to last.” he murmured against his lips.

Bible didn’t seem daunted, slipping a hand around to the back of his neck and meeting his lips passionately with his own, wordlessly seeming to understand. And then he moved, drawing up on Don’s erection in a slow upward stroke and just as if that couldn’t be more intense enough, he pushed back down, taking him deeply within. Don felt like the air had been pulled from his lungs and he moaned, biting down so hard on it that it hurt. And Bible kept moving, Don slipping a hand around to the small of his back and urging him on, the other wrapping around his upper back, bringing him as close as he could.

Boyd rode him just like that, Don amazed through the haze of his own pleasure to look down and see that Bible was completely hard, leaking against their stomachs. He reached out immediately, taking him into his hand and stroking in time to Bible’s thrusts. The man very nearly fell apart against him, sagging in his embrace and Don just gripped him close, probably in a painful grip. He was close, too close, and there was no way he was going to hold out -

“Bible!” he cried out and Bible cried out too, taking Don all the way inside of him in a deep thrust that completely undid him entirely.

Don came so hard that he very nearly blacked out. He erupted inside his lover with so much force, it felt as if everything within him was pouring out into his lover’s tight heat. He wavered, breathlessly gasping against his shoulder and holding him as tightly as he dared. But he didn’t have to worry. What he loved most about loving a man was the strength of the body in his arms.

Coming back to himself a little, just slightly, he realized Bible was still hard and before he softened entirely, he pushed Bible down just a bit - right where he suspected that spot within him might be. And Boyd let out a surprised cry of pleasure, gasping. Don thrust up against that spot and stroked him firmly and Bible’s cries became steady on his lips. And then he erupted over Don’s hand, spilling onto their heated and sweat dampened skin, trembling slightly in Don’s arms.

For a moment, they just held onto each other. And hold him Don did, lovingly kissing Bible in slow, tender, and deep kisses, stroking his hands over cooling flesh. Bible’s hands rested warmly on his chest and they were reluctant to withdraw. Don just wanted to stay here forever. But he knew, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, that that wasn’t possible. A war beckoned. One they had to see through, whatever the end result would be.

 

 

_I was born sick,_   
_But I love it_   
_Command me to be well_   
_Amen._

 

**END**


End file.
